Wednesday, March 28, 2012

You Really Don't Realize How Special You Are, Do You?

If any of you out there watch the show Merlin as much as I do, you will understand the title of this post.

For those of you who don't watch it, Merlin is a series about the young wizard growing up in Camelot and helping the bratty Prince Arthur grow up to be the great king of the legend. However, magic was banned when Arthur was born, so Merlin must hide who he truly is to protect Arthur, at all costs.

In Season 2, Merlin meets Freya, a girl under a curse who has magic as he does. By night, she turns into a monster who kills everything in sight. Merlin successfully hides her and takes care of her. However, when her captors almost find her, she and Merlin have a heart to heart and she says she's a monster and asks why he isn't scared of her. Merlin tells her being different is nothing to be scared of, and that she is special. He accepts her as she is, even though she cannot see the goodness inside herself.

Some Aspies, I find, are a lot like Freya. We consider ourselves outcasts, freaks, and in some cases, just wrong. We hide who we are in hopes of fitting in and find we often find fitting in is not easy. One Aspie I know was to the point of denying who he was, saying that there was no way he could be what they said he was. Freak. Loser. Retard.

But, like Freya, we all need intervention, especially if we start believing the lies society tells us: that we cannot achieve what others can, that we are so different we will never have friends. And (although it would be undeniably awesome) Merlin of the legend will not help us to confront our fears. But there are others who will. People close to you have told you that you are special, loved and cared about, sometimes we just don't believe them. However, we need to believe them, because it is the truth.

Because, like Merlin, our destinies depend on it.

Originally posted at confessionsofateenageaspie@wordpress.com on February 26, 2012.